STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Port Richmond man recruited his two cousins to help him break into a boarded up home in his neighborhood, then told police he was only doing it because he wasn't able to buy the place, authorities allege.

"I'm trying to buy this house. I reached out to the owner, and he pretty much hung up on me and didn't want anything to do with it," said Timothy Williams, 25, after police caught him trying to unscrew a window at 272 Heberton Ave., according to a law enforcement source. "I talked my cousins into coming with me to the house and the cops showed up. I was trying to get into the window to secure the rest of the house."

The home's actual owner, Benny D'Amato, said he'd never heard of Williams, though a police officer asked if the property was for sale after telling him about the break-in.

"I don't know what they're talking about," he said. "The house is not for sale."

D'Amato said he's rebuffed offers in the past, but those were made "by legitimate Realtors, not by fly-by-night people like this."

Police arrested Williams, of the 100 block of Albion Place, at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, along with Michael Payne, 23, and Niah Copeman, 19, all of Brooklyn. Court papers allege that a witness saw all three try to pry open a boarded-up front door, ad that Williams was using a screwdriver to unscrew a window.

Payne had a glassine envelope of heroin in his possession, while Copeman was carrying pliers and a hammer, and Williams had the aforementioned screwdriver and a boxcutter, court papers allege.

The building, which at one point housed a juvenile home run by the Catholic Guardian Society, has been vacant since 2007, D'Amato said. He speculated that the trio were looking for scrap metal, or to squat there.

All three suspects are charged with second-degree attempted burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief, both misdemeanors, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovan's office.

Payne is also charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, while Williams and Copeman face charges of possession of burglar's tools.